political parties

Rent increased over 40% under National (Key years)

Written By: weka - Date published: 10:24 am, December 10th, 2019 - 137 comments

Now Simon Bridges as a bridge to sell you.

Can UK Labour do it?

Written By: advantage - Date published: 8:00 am, December 9th, 2019 - 164 comments

Very unlikely. From the polls taken in the UK few hours ago, the Conservatives are in for an historic fourth consecutive term in Parliament.

Right wing lies

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:29 am, December 6th, 2019 - 110 comments

New Zealand and the United Kingdom are both cursed with the right wing parties having the same advisors and similar means of campaigning

Little’s Electoral Bill a curate’s egg – good in parts

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 1:51 pm, December 4th, 2019 - 11 comments

I’ve always liked Punch magazine’s famous cartoon “True humility” where the curate assures his bishop noticing his bad egg that parts of it are excellent. Most discussion on Little’s Bill has focused on the bad bits regarding foreign donations. The good bit requires all political ads online to be attributed.

Government to ban foreign donations to political parties

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:19 pm, December 3rd, 2019 - 66 comments

The Government has announced that it will pass under urgency changes to the Electoral Law to ban overseas donations.

Why some MPs should not tweet

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:16 am, December 3rd, 2019 - 7 comments

National MP Joanne Hayes has provided a textbook example of the perils of Twitter.

Labour’s infrastructure spend announcement

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:06 pm, December 1st, 2019 - 35 comments

Is the Government commitment to the budget responsibility rules weakening? Because at the Labour Party Conference Grant Robertson has indicated that the Government will shortly announce a big capital spend on infrastructure.

Labour Conference

Written By: advantage - Date published: 7:10 am, November 30th, 2019 - 97 comments

It’s a weird moment for the Labour Party at Conference this weekend.

Bridges calls for investigation into National’s handling of electoral donations

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:29 am, November 29th, 2019 - 24 comments

Simon Bridges’ demand of an investigation into the New Zealand First Foundation appears to have backfired after it emerges that the NZ First Foundation was modelled on the National Party Foundation.

Strike Force Raptor for the win

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:14 am, November 28th, 2019 - 40 comments

National has proposed significant changes to the Criminal Justice system to create a Police group without evidence that it works, and that if enacted would make our prisons less safe and plug holes in our law that do not exist.

National’s Youth lauranorda rhetoric

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 27th, 2019 - 20 comments

National is proposing changes to the Youth Court system that show not only a disregard for working in the interests of young people but disturbingly show a complete lack of understanding about how the Youth Court works.

Little announces changes to Prisoner voting rights

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:58 pm, November 26th, 2019 - 44 comments

Andrew Little has announced a review of prisoner voting rights to overturn National’s law change which the Courts have ruled to be in breach of fundamental rights and unjustified. Simon Bridges has announced that National will reverse any such law change. And he has topped this off by proposing that Tauranga City Council should prosecute and fine beggars and homeless people.

November Stuff Poll; Nats Knackered

Written By: te reo putake - Date published: 9:16 am, November 25th, 2019 - 95 comments

Stuff have released their latest YouGov political poll. It’s a shocker for the Tories and their current leader Simon Bridges.

Hypocrites

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:37 am, November 22nd, 2019 - 57 comments

National’s attacks on NZ First’s Foundation are hypocritical in the extreme given that it also has a Foundation and has used this foundation to hide the identity of donors who have collectively potentially contributed huge amounts of money to the party.

Hypocrite

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:23 pm, November 20th, 2019 - 74 comments

Simon Bridges has accused NZ First of engaging in the most significant breach of electoral law in New Zealand’s history. But has not ruled out working with NZ First in the future. And has forgotten about National’s neat partition of a $100,000 donation to hide it from the authorities.

Not a good look

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:10 am, November 19th, 2019 - 98 comments

There has been recent media exposure on New Zealand First’s treatment of donations and the use of a trust to receive donations and avoid contribution disclosure requirements by making payments loans rather than gifts.

Green MP Gareth Hughes speaking bold truth ahead of his retirement at next election

Written By: weka - Date published: 9:54 am, November 17th, 2019 - 105 comments

“I’ve grown up knowing nothing but the revolution of the early 1980s. This is this operating system which was uploaded in New Zealand and people have tried to install better policies or better programs, but if they don’t work with the system, they are crashing”

Fifty shades of meh

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:31 am, November 15th, 2019 - 130 comments

A group of farmers protested against Government climate policies yesterday including policies which the National Party either established or supported.

End of Life Bill passes

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:53 am, November 14th, 2019 - 98 comments

David Seymour’s End of Life Bill passed through Parliament last night by 69 votes to 51. We are now facing a referendum at the next election.

Sustainable Party launches

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:01 am, November 11th, 2019 - 99 comments

The Sustainable Party, National’s sock puppet party designed to weaken the Greens has launched. And its policies for some strange reason have not put climate change front and centre.

Slapdown

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:45 am, November 7th, 2019 - 66 comments

Jacinda Ardern has publicly slapped Shane Jones down for blatantly racist comments by requiring Immigration Officials to reverse a policy change that was adversely affecting Kiwis who have recently entered into arranged marriages.

UK Conservative’s social media is remarkably similar to National’s social media

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:37 am, November 6th, 2019 - 31 comments

The British Conservative Party and the New Zealand National Party appear to be using very similar twitter strategies involving the setting of highly edited video to naff music and the making of patently ridiculous claims.

National’s fundamentals

Written By: weka - Date published: 7:15 am, November 6th, 2019 - 87 comments

Are National parachuting in a fundamentalist Christian as a Prime Minister hopeful?

Can’t Simon Bridges prove a double negative

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:40 am, October 30th, 2019 - 33 comments

Simon Bridges has announced new National Party policy to take benefits off gang members and their families if they can’t prove they don’t have illegal income or assets.

The Government-Auckland relationship

Written By: advantage - Date published: 1:22 pm, October 25th, 2019 - 26 comments

The Sky City National Convention Centre fire brings the Government Auckland relationship to a very sharp edge. It was tense before. It’s worse now.

Dog whistling Housing Corp tenants

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:35 pm, October 25th, 2019 - 29 comments

National has announced that it will put an end to a “state house for life” if it gets into power next year. But its rationale is not only cruel but based on a faulty understanding of the local reality.

Farmers given a chance. I think National will screw it up for them.

Written By: lprent - Date published: 8:11 am, October 24th, 2019 - 21 comments

One of the less endearing traits of National is their ability to screw almost anything up for short-term advantage regardless how it impacts long-term. Usually this comes from the results of in-fighting within the party. The agricultural emissions deal is likely to get caught again.

Sneaky Simon somersaults on support for Terrorism Bill

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:30 am, October 23rd, 2019 - 24 comments

National has welched on a promise to support the Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill so that it can play politics with law and order issues.

Zero Carbon Bill reported back

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:08 am, October 22nd, 2019 - 18 comments

The Zero Carbon Bill has been reported back largely unchanged. But National has a series of talking points that suggest it will not cooperate with the passage of the bill into law.

NZ First Youth drags party screaming and kicking into 20th century

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:08 am, October 21st, 2019 - 24 comments

At New Zealand First’s weekend conference the party’s youth wing has forced the party to rethink its ultra conservative view on pill testing services being offered at festivals.

Reality kicks in for US trolls.

Written By: lprent - Date published: 9:35 am, October 18th, 2019 - 17 comments

It has been an interesting few days looking at political reality kicking in on politics and the net in the UK and the US. The first story I read yesterday was in the US, about one of the lying dimwitted conspiracy nutcases who claimed that the 2012 Sandy Nook school massacre never happened, but was […]